Conformal Cooling
Conformal cooling
Cycle time is money. Therefore when contracting moulds, investors more and more often demand shorter cycle times. In order to reduce the overall cycle time, we need to decrease cooling phase, as it is the longest process in injection molding and can take up to 70% of cycle time. The time we need to cool a part equals the time required to absorb the temperature from the worst cooled insert area. The more efficient the cooling is, the shorter the cycle becomes.
Providing very efficient and uniform heat transfer from injected parts not only reduces the cycle time, but also minimises warpages and part deformations that might appear due to uneven temperature distribution. Classic drilled channels almost never follow the shape of molded parts, which influences cooling efficiency. That is a huge drawback considering shapes of modern parts made in injection process. Thanks to DMLS additive technology, which enables creation of optimised cooling channels, we are able to maintain constant distance from the cavity surface, decrease cycle time and improve the overall quality of a part. Complex cooling systems in difficult to reach areas, that would be otherwise impossible to create with conventional, substractive methods of production become a reality.
The use of conformal cooling channels brings two main benefits:
– cycle time decrease up to 30%
– reduction of part deformation
Given the above arguments, conformal cooling is an invaluable tool to help meet the demands of quality, stability and repeatability of injected parts while reducing production costs.
FADO has become one of EOS official service providers for DMLS technology (direct metal laser sintering). You will find FADO’s profile at: